Horticulture: Extension: Gold Medal Plants

2005 Gold Medal Winners

Dragon Wing Begonia is not a typical begonia. It's like a begonia on steroids! Its leaves and flowers are larger than most begonias, and its growth rate is phenomenal. It adapts well to landscape beds, containers or hanging baskets and blooms non-stop from spring until fall frost.

Soon after Dragon Wing Begonia was introduced by Pan American Seed Company in 2000, growers and landscapers from California to Florida were raving about the plant. A hybrid cross between angel wing begonia and wax begonia, Dragon Wing Begonia offers the best qualities of both plants. It grows denser and larger than most angel wing types and has the heat tolerance of wax begonias.

Dragon Wing Begonias grow 12 to 15 inches tall and 15 to 18 inches wide. Leaves are wing-shaped and large, 2 to 5 inches long, and dark glossy green. Plants tend to branch readily and grow dense without pruning. Two flower colors, red and pink, are currently available. The flowers are borne on stalks called panicles, growing from the leaf nodes near the tip of each branch. Flowers shed naturally after bloom as new ones take their place, so plants appear neat and clean all summer.

In the landscape, Dragon Wing Begonia does best in filtered shade and well-drained soils enriched with organic matter. For best results, plant on a raised bed, 4 to 6 inches above the normal grade. To build up the bed, place 4 inches of compost or well-rotted animal manure on the planting area and incorporate it uniformly to a 12-inch depth. Then broadcast a slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote over the bed according to label directions. Space plants 12 to 18 inches apart. Mulching and thoroughly watering are the final tasks to get the summer show underway.

Like other fibrous begonias, Dragon Wing Begonias are heavy feeders and will benefit from a liquid fertilizer such as 20-20-20 or 15-3-15 applied each two weeks during the growing season.

Dragon Wing Begonia makes a spectacular showing in the landscape when combined with tropical plants having bold foliage, such as bananas, cannas, gingers and tibouchinas (Princess Flower). With its gently arching stems and prolific, pendulous flower clusters, Dragon Wing Begonia also is an excellent choice for large containers.

A single plant will fill a 10-inch hanging basket, and five plants will fill a whisky barrel, so provide plenty of room for them to grow. When plants grow a little too large for their container, simply trim them back to encourage new growth and flowers.

When frost threatens, Dragon Wing Begonias can be cut back, dug and repotted for indoor culture and overwintering. Cuttings also can be rooted in water and potted. Give them plenty of bright light and occasional liquid feedings, and they will continue their award-winning performance indoors all winter

Given Georgia's unpredictable climate, most gardeners are looking for tough, drought tolerant, heat-tolerant, low-maintenance plants. Georgia Blue Veronica, Veronica peduncularis 'Georgia Blue,' has all these qualities and more.

Georgia Blue Veronica is not another University of Georgia introduction. In fact, it doesn't hail from the state of Georgia at all. It was found in the Republic of Georgia (formerly a part of the Soviet Union) by English plantsman Roy Lancaster, who introduced and named it after the country of origin.

Georgia Blue Veronica is a herbaceous perennial with a growth habit like a groundcover and beautiful sky-blue flowers in early spring. When planted over bulbs such as daffodils, it provides a dramatic color contrast and spectacular floral display as it blooms in concert with the bulbs. Yellow, white and cream-colored daffodils look particularly nice against the carpet of blue. The plant is an excellent choice for container plantings and rock gardens, providing the visual appeal of a woodland stream spilling over the sides of containers or cascading over rocks.

Growing only 4 to 6 inches tall and 2 feet wide, Georgia Blue Veronica tends to hug the ground and remain compact. The evergreen leaves are small, about 1 inch long, elliptical-shaped and finely toothed. They are dark green in summer and turn burgundy-bronze in winter.

Gardeners who like plants that bloom over a long time will love Georgia Blue Veronica. From February to April, the plant bears an abundance of tiny, true-blue flowers with white centers. There are times during the bloom cycle that the foliage is literally masked by all the flowers. The flowers are highly attractive to bees and butterflies.

Although Georgia Blue Veronica is a vigorous grower and spreads by creeping rootstocks, it is not aggressive or invasive. When it reaches the limits of its growing area, it can be sheared back and easily maintained within a bed.

Well-drained soils and good nutrition are essential for success with Georgia Blue Veronica. A light application of 10-10-10 fertilizer applied every two months and watered in during the first growing season will get the plant off to a good start. Once established, a light application of a complete fertilizer such as 16-4-8 in early spring and late summer will keep the plant looking its best.

Georgia Blue Veronica can be grown from seed or propagated by dividing established plants in spring or fall.

Most landscapes have difficult sites, such as hot, dry, erodible slopes or ditches where soil moisture fluctuates from very wet to very dry. Not many plants tolerate these conditions, but Creeping Raspberry, Rubus pentalobus, is one that will. In fact, it not only survives, it thrives under harsh growing conditions.

Creeping Raspberry is a fast-growing, evergreen ground cover imported from Taiwan. It grows 3 to 6 inches and spreads 3 to 6 feet in all directions. As the name implies, Creeping Raspberry creeps along the ground by forming runners – much like strawberries – which root at their nodes and establish new colonies. Although it is aggressive, Creeping Raspberry is not invasive. It doesn't climb trees or smother nearby shrubs, and it can readily be controlled with mechanical edging.

Creeping Raspberry has coarse-textured leaeves with deep veins that make them appear puckered. The are about 1.5 inches in diameter and have three to five lobes. During spring and summer, the leaves are shiny, dark green above and gray-green below. They turn burgundy in fall and winter. White flowers are borne in mid-summer, but they are lost in the foliage and not very showy. The flowers are followed by tiny, raspberry-like fruit in late summer. Although the fruit are tasty and edible, they are tiny, so don't expect an abundant harvest for your breakfast table. Fruiting is not one of the plant's outstanding attributes.

Plant Creeping Raspberry plants 4 to 6 feet apart to allow them plenty of room to spread. A full-sun site is best although plants will adapt to partial shade. Avoid planting them in wet soils or areas that may get too much irrigation. Wet soils or overhead irrigation will cause the plants to look ragged.

Creeping Raspberry does will in most areas of Georgia except in extreme mountainous regions where winter hardiness may be a problem. It has excellent pest resistance and deer tolerance. If, after a harsh winter, the foliage looks a little rough, give it a light trimming with the lawn mower in mid-March to encourage a new growth flush in spring.

To encourage rapid establishment, apply a granular fertilizer such as 16-4-8 or 12-4-8 in early spring. Apply fertilizer when the foliage is dry, and use a broom or rake to remove excess granules from the leaves. Then water with overhead irrigation to wash off any residual fertilizer.

Creeping Raspberry can be propagated by separating a rooted runner from the mother plant.

It is not just for ditches or slopes. Creeping Raspberry looks particularly nice when grown in a raised bed or planter and allowed to cascade over a wall or container.

Canyon Creek Abelia — Flowers and Foliage
	Rose Creek Abelia — Flowers and Foliage Photos courtesy of Michael Dirr

During recent years, plant breeders have made great strides in developing new plants with outstanding seasonal characteristics that give them improved landscape appeal. Examples are Rose Creek and Canyon Creek Abelias, exciting new selections from the breeding program of Dr. Michael Dirr at the University of Georgia. Since their release in 2001 and 2002, respectively, these plants have earned the admiration of nurserymen, landscapers and gardeners throughout the United States.

Rose Creek and Canyon Creek Abelias are seedling selections of Chinese Abelia, Abelia chinense . They were open-pollinated with other abelia cultivars, so their exact parentage is unknown. Rose Creek Abelia was selected for its low mounding growth habit, crimson stem color, fragrant white flowers, and exceptionally long bloom period (May to frost). The plant grows 2 to 3 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet side, making it an excellent choice for foundation plantings, containers or low-growing hedges.

Rose Creek Abelia has evergreen leaves that emerge with a pinkish cast, turn lustrous dark green in summer, then darken to purple-green in winter, giving the plant an ever-changing seasonal interest. Cluster after cluster of white, fragrant, tubular flowers about a half-inch long are borne throughout the growing season. Below each flower are small, light pink, modified leaves called the calyx, which remain on the plant after the flowers fade and provide even more pizzazz to the floral display.

Canyon Creek Abelia is a larger plant than Rose Creek Abelia, growing 4 to 6 feet tall and wide. It is a great hedging plant and is an ideal choice for a mixed perennial border. New leaves emerge with a coppery-pink cast that mellows to a soft yellow, then green, then rosey-bronze in winter. Flowers are fragrant, tubular and light pink and are borne in clusters from May until frost. The flowers are surrounded at their base by a star-shaped reddish-pink calyx that persists long after the flowers drop, so the plant appears to have two flower forms present at the same time throughout the season.

Both abelias are drought tolerant, deer-resistant and seldom bothered by pests. They also are highly attractive to butterflies and bees. Some light pruning may be required from time to time to remove lanky shoots. Otherwise both plants look their best when allowed to develop a natural, informal appearance.

Glowing Embers is not just another Japanese maple. It's an award-winning selection from Dr. Michael Dirr's plant evaluation program at the University of Georgia, chosen for its vigorous growth rate, brilliant fall color, and adaptability to a wide variety of southern landscape conditions. The original seedling selection from which others have been propagated can be seen at the entrance to the Callaway Building at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

Unlike many Japanese maples that require shade and moist, organic soils, Glowing Embers Japanese Maple thrives in full sun and tolerates drought better than most trees in it class. However, it will not tolerate wet sites or sites where extreme fluctuations in soil moisture are common. Good soil drainage is essential.

Aptly named, Glowing Embers Japanese Maple provides a kaleidoscope of color in fall as the leaves fade from green to purple, fluorescent orange or yellow, much like the ever-changing and mesmerizing embers of a wood fire. The color sequence of each leaf varies, and a single branch may display four distinctly different colors at the same time.

Glowing Embers Japanese Maple is a medium-size deciduous tree, growing 30 to 40 feet tall with an equal spread. Leaves are finely toothed, 2 to 3 inches long and about 3 inches wide, with five distinct pointed lobes. The tree has a dense canopy when in full leaf and is an excellent shade tree for residential landscapes where space is limited.

Unlike other Japanese maples that are grafted onto a rootstock, Glowing Embers Japanese Maple is called a "clonal" selection, which means it is propagated from cuttings and is not grafted onto rootstock. Nurserymen refer to this as "growing on its own roots." They love this characteristic because it makes production more efficient and less time-consuming.

Once established, Glowing Embers Japanese Maple will benefit from spring applications of a complete garden fertilizer such as 16-4-8 or 12-4-8. Prune as needed to thin branches and to develop a desired shape. Although the tree has above-average drought tolerance, be prepared to provide some supplemental irrigation during drought periods.

Glowing Embers Japanese Maple is quickly becoming a highly demanded and popular plant in the nursery industry as landscape professionals and home gardeners discover its award-winning qualities.

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